Method and device for message broadcasting enabling the recipient to retrieve at least partly a message

ABSTRACT

In an interactive method for restoring messages in an automated message broadcast system, the automated message broadcast system comprises at least a message storage system ( 10 ) storing messages and a message restoring device ( 13 ), the message storage system ( 10 ) being capable of transmitting stored messages to the message restoring device ( 13 ), the message storage system ( 10 ) capable of carrying out a number of operations on a message during transmission. The message storage system ( 10 ) accepts to perform the operations on the message during transmission only after expiry of a minimum delay as from the beginning of the transmission of the message to the message restoring device ( 13 ).

The present invention relates generally to automated processes andsystems for broadcasting messages, and more particularly to a processand a system for broadcasting messages of an advertising nature whichpermit guaranteeing to an advertiser the at least partial retrieval ofan advertising message by the recipients to which the message has beensent.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

The techniques for communication of messages of an advertising naturehave developed techniques of display and insertion in the press duringprevious centuries up to the present techniques of broadcasting intelevision media, data communication or the Internet, of passing throughcommunication techniques based on vocal messages on fixed or mobiletelecommunication terminals.

The conventional techniques for broadcasting purely visual advertisingmessages such as communication by display or inserts in the papers, havethe well-known drawbacks that the potential recipients of theseadvertising messages simply by glancing away from the displays or theadvertising inserts.

Similarly, communications in a text form such as messages of the SMStype transmitted on a telephonic radio receiver or advertising on datacommunication pages of the Internet type, can be easily ignored by theirpotential recipients for the same reasons.

To respond to this problem, recourse is nowadays had more and more oftento techniques of broadcasting advertising messages by sound, if desiredcombined with visual techniques, which have the interest that thepotential recipient cannot avoid hearing an advertising message in theform of sound.

However, the recipient of an advertising message can still physicallyremove himself from the message broadcasting device, or not payattention to the advertising messages.

To overcome this problem, techniques of advertising message broadcastingby telephone have been developed, such as those described in WO98/49826, in which the messages of an advertising nature are inserted intelephone communications between two users, in return for partial ortotal refund of the cost of the telephone communication in question.

This technique is very restrictive, or even difficult to carry out withtwo users in communication, in particular for the one of the users whodoes not benefit from the telephone communication, and as a result, ithas not had widespread success. Moreover, this technique can haveserious drawbacks, even grave ones, in the case in which the telephonecommunication takes place in an urgent medical situation or the like, onwhich an advertising interruption, even instantaneous, can have veryserious consequences.

Similarly, there is known from FR 2 798 801 a technique permittingstoring advertising messages of an advertiser on a vocal message server,a user being able to select and consult a message, ignore a message oruse a message to gain access to a service. However, this type oftechnique has the drawback that there exists no means for the advertiserto ensure himself that at least a significant part of his advertisingmessage will have been heard by the user before deletion of the messagein question by this latter.

This situation has the effect of rendering uncertain for an advertiserthe return on his investment in advertising campaigns based on this typeof support in the field of the prior art. In particular, in the case ofadvertising messages sent with partial or total refund of the cost ofthe telephone communication, the advertiser will necessarily take a lossif the recipient can avoid hearing the advertising messages constitutingthe partial or total refund of his subscription.

Moreover, in quite another field, it could be essential to ensure thatthe recipient of a message has in fact retrieved it. Thus, in the caseof the conduct of industrial processes or controlling engines such asthose of aircraft, the human operators in question are frequentlysolicited by message of all natures from an automated system, and theirattention span tends as a result to narrow. This has the consequencethat the operators risk reacting in a mechanical or a districted fashionto a message received from the system of which they are in charge.Because of this, there exists a substantial probability that the contentof an urgent or even vital message will not be effectively recognized bythe operator in question, if a suitable technique is not used to ensurethat the latter has not indeed taken account of at least a significantportion of the content of such a message.

There accordingly exists a need for a process and a system which permitensuring that the recipient of a message has indeed taken account of atleast a significant portion of the content of the message.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention thus has for its object to provide an interactiveprocess for reproduction of messages in an automated system forbroadcasting messages, said automated system for broadcasting messagescomprising at least a system for storing messages and a device forreproducing messages, said message storing system being adapted totransmit stored messages to said device for reproducing messages, saiddevice for reproducing messages permitting the reproduction in real timefor an operator, of messages transmitted by said message storage system,said message storage system being adapted to carry out a certain numberof operations on a message in the course of transmission, said messagereproduction device being adapted to transmit to said message storagesystem at least a control system under the control of said operatorduring the transmission of a message, each of said at least one controlsignals permitting commanding said message storage system to carry outon said message in the course of transmission a corresponding operationfrom among said operations, said message reproducing device comprisingat least one control device permitting said operator to generate said atleast one control signals destined for said message storage system, andwhich has the characteristic that said message storage system does notaccept to carry out said operations on said message in the course oftransmission until after the expiration of a minimum delay from thebeginning of transmission of said message to said device for reproducingmessages.

In this process, said message storage system and said device forreproducing messages, can communicate via a communication channel. Inthis case, said communication channel can be a radio connection and saiddevice for reproducing messages is thus a radio communication terminal.Similarly, said communication channel can be a telephone line connectionand said device for reproducing messages is thus a conventionaltelephone station. Said communication channel can also be a telematicconnection and said device for reproducing messages is thus a telematiccommunication terminal. Also, said communication channel can be aninteractive television connection and said device for reproduction ofmessages is thus an interactive television receiver. Said communicationchannel can also be a computer network and said device for reproductionof messages is thus a computer system connected to said computernetwork.

The messages stored in said message storage system and transmitted tosaid device for reproduction of messages can comprise at least one sonicportion. Said messages stored in said storage system for messages andtransmitted to said device for reproduction of messages can alsocomprise at least one vocal message portion. In this case, said systemfor storing messages could be a vocal message server.

The messages stored in said message storage system and transmitted tosaid device for reproduction of messages could also comprise at leastone portion comprised by a text, as well as at least one image or anassembly of images that are stationary or animated. Moreover, saidmessages stored in said storage system for messages and transmitted tosaid device for reproduction of messages, could permit an interactivedialog with the operator.

In the process of the invention, said operations that can be carried outon the message in the course of transmission can comprise an operationpermitting the deletion of the message in the course of transmission andof at least one other message and of at least one other message in asingle operation.

Similarly, at least one of said control signals commanding the messagestorage system to carry out at least one of said operations on saidmessage in the course of transmission, can be determined in real time bysaid message storage system and transmitted in real time by said storagesystem for messages to said operator via said device for reproduction ofmessages. In this case, one of said at least one predetermined controlsignals transmitted by said message storage system can be transmitted bysaid message storage system at any instant within said minimum delayfrom the beginning of said transmission of said message. Said at leastone control signal predetermined and transmitted by the storage systemcan thus comprise a signal acknowledging reception of the message in thecourse of transmission. Moreover, said storage system can thus ignorethe operations other than the acknowledgement of reception of themessage in the course of transmission up to the reception of theacknowledgement of reception. Moreover, said storage system canretransmit at least partially the message in the course of transmissionduring reception of an operation other than acknowledgement ofreception.

In the process of the invention one of said at least one control devicespresent in said device for reproduction of messages to send said atleast one control signal to said system of message storage, can forexample be a keyboard or a control device comprising at least one key.In this case, one of said at least one control signals permittingcarrying out an operation on a message in the course of transmission isthe signal generated by the actuation of a key from among said at leastone keys present on the keyboard or said control device comprising atleast one key.

Similarly, one of said at least one control devices present in saiddevice for reproduction of messages to send said at least one controlsignal to said message storage system, can be a microphone, and one ofsaid at least one control signals permitting carrying out an operationon a message in the course of transmission will thus be a vocal controlentered by said operator by means of said microphone and transmitted tosaid storage device by said message broadcast device.

Also, one of said at least one control devices present in said devicefor reproduction of messages to send said at least one control signal tosaid system of message storage, could be a voice recognition device, andone of said at least one control signals permitting carrying out anoperation on a message in the course of transmission will thus be avocal control entered by said operator by means of said voicerecognition device.

In the process according to the invention, said minimum delay can forexample be three seconds.

In general, said messages stored in said message storage system andtransmitted to said message reproduction device will be messages of anadvertising nature.

Moreover, said device for storing messages could furthermore store foreach stored message information representative of the duration of saidminimum delay for said message. In this case, the duration of saidminimum delay could be reduced to zero for certain messages.

The invention also proposes an automated system for broadcastingmessages, said automated system for broadcasting messages comprising atleast one system for storing messages and a device for reproduction ofmessages, said system for storing messages being able to transmit storedmessages to said device for reproducing messages, said device forreproducing messages permitting the reproduction in real time for anoperator of messages transmitted by said message storage system, saidmessage storage system being adapted to carry out a certain number ofoperations on a message in the course of transmission, said messagereproduction device being adapted to transmit to said message storagesystem at least one control signal under the control of said operatorduring the transmission of a message, each of said at least one controlsignals permitting controlling said message storage system so as tocarry out on said message in the course of transmission a correspondingoperation from among said operations, said device for reproducingmessages comprising at least one control device permitting said operatorto generate said at least one control signals destined for said messagestorage system, and which has the characteristic that it uses the aboveprocess.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

There will now be described, solely by way of example, two embodimentsof the invention with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:

FIG. 1 is a functional schematic of a system for broadcasting vocalmessages used both in the prior art and in the processing systemaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an organigram of the principle of broadcasting a vocal messageon a fixed telephone line or radio, both in the prior art and in thescope of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a detailed organigram of box 23 of FIG. 2 in the case of theprior art;

FIG. 4 is a detailed organigram of box 23 of FIG. 2 in a firstembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a detailed organigram of box 23 of FIG. 2 in a secondembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTIOON OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 5, there will now be described in a generalmanner the transmission of a message of advertising nature by a vocalmessage server, as embodied in the scope of the prior art or the presentinvention.

In the case of the prior art technique as in the case of the presentinvention, a message server 10 is connected to a fixed or mobiletelecommunication terminal 13 by a fixed telephone line or radio 12, andthe user 15 interacts with the fixed or mobile telecommunicationterminal 13 with the help of a keyboard 14.

When the user 15 desires to retrieve possible messages stored for hisattention in the message server 10, he types on the keyboard 14 thetelephone number corresponding to the message server 10.

Conventionally, during reception of the call of the user 15, the messageserver 10 identifies the calling user 15, then the message server 10thus transmits the messages held for the user 15 thus identified. Theuser 15 can then choose to interrupt, save or delete a message in thecourse of transmission or the last transmitted message. To do this, theoperator 15 sends suitable control signals to the message server 10 withthe help of corresponding keys of the keyboard 14 of the fixed or mobiletelecommunication terminal 13.

When all the backed up messages have been transmitted, the server 10informs the user 15 that there are no more messages awaiting, then theserver 10 awaits the user 15 to end the communication, or to carry outother operations, such as reading messages previously saved.

In the prior art technique, as in the field of the present invention, ifthe user 15 ends the communication during transmission of a message,this latter is saved by the message server 10, and it will be againpresented to the user 15 as if it had not begun to be transmitted,during the following connection of the user 15 to the message server 10.

More precisely, in step 20 of FIG. 2, the user 15 composes on thekeyboard 14 of his telecommunication terminal 13 the telephone numberpermitting accessing the message server 10. Then, in step 21, themessage server 10 identifies the user 15 either by means of his callingtelephone number, or by means of internal information in thetelecommunication terminal 13 such as the number of a smart card (notshown) present in the telecommunication terminal 13. As a modification,the user 15 identifies himself by entering a code on the keyboard 14 ofthe telecommunication terminal 13, this code being thus transmitted tothe message server 10 by the telecommunication terminal 13 via thetelephone line 12. Once step 21 is finished, the server 10 passes tostep 22.

In step 22, the message server 10 determines whether there are messagesawaiting the user 15 thus identified. If the response is negative, themessage server 10 passes to step 26.

In step 26, the server 10 indicates to the user 15 that there are nomore waiting messages, and the server 10 thus awaits the instructions ofthe user 15, such as the consultation or the deletion of messagespreviously saved, or that the user 15 ends the telephone communication.

If the response in step 22 is positive, the message server 10 passes tostep 23, in which the message server 10 transmits to the operator 15 thefirst stored message for this latter, then the message server 10 returnsto step 22 described above.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there will now be described in detail step 23of FIG. 2 in the case of the prior art, designated by reference 23A inFIG. 3.

In step 310 of FIG. 3, the message server 10 begins to send the messageawaiting the user 15, then it passes to step 320.

In step 320, the message server 10 tests whether the user 15 has pressedthe key of keyboard 14 of the telecommunication terminal 13. If theresponse is negative, the message server 10 passes to step 380 describedlater in this paper. If the message is positive in step 320, the messageserver 10 passes to step 330.

In step 330, the message server 10 determines whether the key that theuser 15 has pressed, is the key requiring deletion of the message in thecourse of transmission. If the response is positive, the message server10 passes to step 340 in which the server 10 deletes the message in thecourse of transmission from the list of messages awaiting the user 15,and step 23A of transmission of a message according to the prior art isterminated.

If in step 330, the response is negative, the message server 10 thenpasses to step 350. In step 350, the message server 10 tests whether thekey that the user 15 has pressed is the key controlling the saving ofthe message in the course of transmission. If the response is positive,the message server 10 passes to step 360 in which the message in thecourse of transmission is saved by the server 10, and step 23A of themessage transmission is thus terminated.

If the response in step 350 is negative, then the server 10 passes tostep 370 in which the key pressed by the user 15 is ignored. The messageserver 10 then passes to step 380.

In step 380, the server 10 tests whether the message in the course oftransmission has been entirely transmitted. If the response is positive,the server 10 then returns to step 320 described above. If the responsein step 380 is negative, the message server 10 passes to step 390 inwhich the message server 10 continues to send the message. Then themessage server 10 returns to step 320 described above.

In the above description of FIG. 3, when the transmission of the messageis completed, the message server 10 returns to step 22 in FIG. 2.

As previously mentioned, it will be seen that, in the prior art, theuser 15 can interrupt at any time the transmission of a message, and aresult there is no certainty that a significant portion of thetransmitted message has been understood by the recipient 15, because, inthe great majority of cases, this latter will interrupt the transmissionof the message as soon as he has determined that it is an advertisingmessage, and not a personal message.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there will now be described in detail step 23of FIG. 2 in the field of a first embodiment of the present invention,designated by reference 23B in FIG. 4.

The procedure of sending a message to the user 15 by the server 10begins in step 401. In step 401, the server initiates at a value 0 acounter of time T, adapted to measure the time elapsed from thebeginning of transmission of the message. This server 10 then passes tostep 410.

In step 410, the message server 10 begins to send the message destinedto the user 15, then it passes to step 420.

In step 420, the message server 10 tests whether the user 15 has pushedthe key of the keyboard 14 of the telecommunication terminal 13. If theresponse is negative, the message server 10 passes to step 480 describedlater in this paper. If the response is positive in step 420, themessage server 10 passes to step 402.

In step 402, the message server 10 tests whether the message in thecourse of transmission is a private message or an advertising message.If the message in the course of transmission is a private message, theserver 10 passes to step 430 which will be described later. If themessage in the course of transmission is an advertising message, theserver 10 passes to step 403.

In step 403, the server 10 tests with the help of the time counter Twhether the time which has elapsed from the beginning of transmission ofthe message is greater than or equal to 3 seconds. If the response isnegative, which is to say if the elapsed time from the beginning oftransmission is less than 3 seconds, the server 10 passes to step 470which will be described later. If the response to step 403 is positive,the server 10 passes to step 430.

In step 430, the message server 10 determines whether the key which theuser 15 has pressed is the key requiring deletion of the message in thecourse of transmission. If the response is positive, the message server10 passes to step 440 in which the server 10 deletes the message in thecourse of transmission from the list of messages held for the user 15,and the step 23B of transmission of a message according to the firstembodiment of the present invention, is terminated.

As a modification, in step 440 above, if the message in the course oftransmission is an interactive advertising message comprising severalportions, the deletion key can permit deleting one or several relatedadvertising messages in a single deletion operation.

If in step 430, if the response is negative, the message server 10passes then to step 450. In step 450, the message server 10 testswhether the key pressed by the user 15 is the key commanding the server10 to save the message in the course of transmission. If the response ispositive, the message server 10 passes to step 460 in which the messagein the course of transmission is saved by the server 10, and step 23B oftransmission of a message according to the first embodiment of thepresent invention is then terminated. If the response to step 450 isnegative, then the server passes to step 470.

In step 470, the key pressed by the user 15 is ignored, and the messageserver 10 passes then to step 280.

In step 480, the server 10 tests whether the message in the course oftransmission has been entirely transmitted. If the response is positive,the server 10 returns to step 420 described above. If the response tostep 480 is negative, the message server 10 passes to step 490 in whichthe message server 10 continues to send the message. Then the messageserver 10 returns to step 420.

In the above description of FIG. 4, when the transmission of the messageis completed, the message server 10 returns to step 22 of FIG. 2.

According to the preceding description of FIG. 4, it will be seen that,contrary to what is in the prior art, the keys pressed by the user 15before expiration of the delay of three seconds counted from thebeginning of transmission of an advertising message, are ignored by themessage server 10 thanks to the test in step 403. As a result, the user15 cannot interrupt the transmission of an advertising message beforethe expiration of this delay, which means that the user 15 mustnecessarily hear at least the three first seconds of any advertisingmessage sent by the message server 10.

Referring now to FIG. 5, there will now be described in detail step 23in FIG. 2 in the context of a second embodiment of the presentinvention, designated by numeral 23C in FIG. 5.

In this embodiment, after having sent the first 3 seconds of the vocalmessage, the message server 10 selects randomly a key of the keyboard 14of the telecommunication terminal 13 as the key to acknowledge receptionAR for the message in the course of transmission, and the message server10 indicates verbally to the user 15, by means of the telecommunicationterminal 13, which one is the key AR to be used. Then, the servercontinues to transmit the message until the user 15 pushes the indicatedkey AR. If the user 15 pushes the key other than the indicated key AR,the message server 10 repeats the transmission of the message from thebeginning.

More precisely, the procedure of sending a message to the user 15 by theserver 10 begins in step 501.

In step 501, the server 10 starts at value 0 a time counter T, adaptedto measure the time elapsed from the beginning of transmission of themessage. Also, the server 10 initiates at the “false” value anindication “Indication key AR sent”, which serves to memorize the factthat the indication of the key AR has been sent to the user 15 via thetelecommunication terminal 13. Similarly, the server 10 initiates to the“false” value an indicator “Key AR received” adapted to memorize thefact that the user 15 has pressed the indicated AR key.

The server 10 then passes to step 510. In step 510, the message server10 begins to send the message held for the user 15, then it passes tostep 520.

In step 520, the message server 10 tests whether the user 15 has pressedthe key of the keyboard 14 of the telecommunication terminal 13. If theresponse is negative, the message server 10 passes to step 580 describedlater in this paper. If the response is positive in step 520, themessage server 10 passes to step 502.

In step 502, the message server 10 tests whether the message in thecourse of transmission is a private message or an advertising message.If the server 10 determines that the message in the course oftransmission is a private message, the server 10 passes to step 530which will be described later. If the server 10 determines that themessage in the course of transmission is an advertising message, theserver 10 passes to step 503.

In step 503, the server 10 tests with the help of the time counter T,whether the time which has elapsed from the beginning of transmission ofthe message is greater than or equal to 3 seconds. If the response isnegative, which is to say, if the time elapsed from the beginning oftransmission is less than 3 seconds, the server 10 passes to step 570which will be described later. If the response in step 503 is positive,the server 10 passes to step 504.

In step 504, the message server 10 tests whether key AR has already beenselected and sends the indication of the selected key AR to the user 15.To do this, it tests the value of the indicator “Indication key AR sent”which has been started at the “false” value in step 501. If this valueremains “false”, the message server 10 passes to step 505.

In step 505, the message server 10 selects randomly the key AR and itindicates the recycled key AR to the user 15 by means of a suitablevocal message which it sends to the telecommunication terminal 13. Theserver 10 then begins at the “true” value the indicator “Indication keyAR sent”. It will be seen that this indicator accurately reflects thefact that the key AR has been selected and sent, then this indicator isplaced at the value “true” only when:

1. the indicator was at the “false” value;

2. the key AR has just been selected and sent.

The message server 10 then passes to step 580 which will be describedlater.

If in step 504, the response is positive, which is to say that theserver 10 has already selected the key AR and sent to the user 15 thecorresponding indication, then the “Indication key AR sent” indicator isat the “true” value, whilst the server 10 passes to step 506. In step506, the server 10 tests whether the key pressed by the user 15 is thekey AR previously selected by the server 10. If the response ispositive, the server 10 passes to step 507. In step 507, the server 10positions the “Key AR received” indicator at the “true” value, then itpasses to step 580 which will be described later.

If the response in step 506 is negative, which is to say if the keypressed by the user 15 is a key other than the AR key previouslyselected by the server 10 in step 505, the server 10 passes to step 508.In step 508, the server 10 tests whether the “Key AR received” indicatorhas the “true” value. If the response is negative, the server 10 returnsto step 501 described above, which is to say that it repeats thetransmission of the message in the course of transmission from thebeginning. If the response in step 508 is positive, which means that the“Key AR received” indicator has been positioned at the “true” value instep 507 described above as a result of reception of the key AR selectedby the server 10 in the step 505, then the server 10 passes to step 530.

In step 530, the message server 10 determines whether the key that theuser 15 has pressed is the key requiring deletion of the message in thecourse of transmission. If the response is positive, the message server10 passes to step 540 in which the server 10 deletes the message in thecourse of transmission from the list of messages saved for the user 15,and step 23C for transmission of a message according to the secondembodiment of the present invention is terminated.

As a modification, in step 540 above, if the message in the course oftransmission is an interactive advertising message comprising severalportions, the deletion key can permit deleting one or several relatedadvertising messages in a single deletion operation.

If in step 530, the response is negative, the message server 10 thenpasses to step 550. In step 550, the message server 10 tests whether thekey pressed by the user 15 is the key commanding the server 10 to savethe message in the course of transmission. If the response is positive,the message server 10 passes to step 560 in which the message in thecourse of transmission is saved by the server 10, and step 23C oftransmission of a message according to the second embodiment of thepresent invention is then terminated.

If the response to step 550 is negative, then the server passes to step570. In step 570, the key pressed by the user 15 is ignored, and themessage server 10 passes then to step 580.

In step 580, the server 10 tests whether the message in the course oftransmission has been entirely transmitted. If the response is positive,the server 10 then returns to step 520 described above. If the responseto step 580 is negative, the message server 10 passes to step 590 inwhich the message server 10 continues to send the message. Then themessage server 10 returns to step 520.

In the above description of FIG. 5, when the transmission of the messageis terminated, the message server 10 returns to step 22 of FIG. 2.

In view of the preceding description of FIG. 5, it will be seen that, inthe first embodiment of the invention and contrary to what was in theprior art, the keys pressed by the user 15 before expiration of thedelay of three seconds counted from the beginning of transmission of anadvertising message, are ignored by the message server 10 thanks to thetest in step 503. As a result, the user 15 cannot interrupt thetransmission of the advertising message before the expiration of thisdelay, which means that the user 15 must necessarily understand at leastthe three first seconds of any advertising message sent by the messageserver 10.

Moreover, given that the key permitting deletion of the message isselected and indicated in a random manner by the message server 10 instep 505, the user 15 will necessarily have to pay attention to thebeginning of the message sufficiently to note mentally the deletion keyto be used, failing which he can't erase the message in the course oftransmission, and this will remain in the list of messages held for theuser 15. This has the result that the message will again be presented tothe user 15 the next time the latter pulls his messages held in themessage server 10.

Moreover, in this embodiment, if the user 15 not having listened to thebeginning of the message, and hence not knowing the AR key selected bythe server 10, seeks to detour the AR procedure described above bypressing at random on one or several keys of the keyboard 15, he willhave only a probability equal to one in n, in which n is the number ofkeys on the keyboard 14, to find by accident on the first try thecorrect key AR, which is to say, that to find randomly by the server 10in step 505. In the contrary case, which is to say if the first keypressed at random by the user 15 is not the key selected by the server10 in step 505, the server 10 will return to step 501, which is to saythat the user 15 must again listen to the message in the course oftransmission from the beginning, and so on until the user 15 hassufficiently paid attention to the beginning of the message to memorizethe deletion key indicated by the server 10.

Thus, in this modification of the process of the invention, theadvertiser which is the source of the advertising message is assuredthat at a minimum the first three seconds of the advertising messagewill have been understood by all the recipients 15 to which theadvertising message will have been transmitted.

In the above, a process has been described which permits ensuring to anadvertiser that an advertising message, transmitted for example bytelephone line, will have been heard at least in part by all therecipients to which this message will have been addressed. Thus, theprocess described above has the characteristic, unique relative to theprior art, of guaranteeing to an advertiser that at least a significantportion of his advertising message will have been effectively heard bythe recipients, which, in its turn, guarantees to the advertiser areturn on his investment in the publicity campaign in question.

The process of the invention is not limited to the embodiments describedabove. For example, the duration of the minimum delay before deletion ofa message can be changed in the scope of the invention, and it can bemade variable, as a function of the associated message or of variousparameters, such as the cost to the advertiser for broadcasting of themessage.

Similarly, other functions than the deletion or the saving of a messagein the course of transmission could be carried out if necessary asneeded by a particular application. Thus, as indicated above, theoperation of deletion of a message could for example be a combinedoperation permitting the deletion of several advertising messages in asingle operation. It is also possible to carry out functions such as thereview of messages previously saved, or the interactive review of othermessages with the help of keys indicated in the message in the course oftransmission.

Moreover, the control device 14 described above permitting the user 15to indicate to the server 10 the operations to be carried out on themessage in the course of transmission could be quite another suitablecontrol device 14 such as a rotatable wheel 14 or a vocal control device14.

In this latter case, reactions permitting generating suitable controlsignals for the server 10 will be vocal controls entered by the user 15via the vocal control device 14, which will replace or be combined withstrokes on the keys of the keyboard 14.

Generally speaking, those skilled in the art will be able to providevarious modifications or improvements to the embodiments described abovewithout departing from the scope of the invention, which is only limitedby the attached claims.

1. Process for reproducing messages in an automated system fordistributing messages, the process comprising the steps of:communicating between at least one system for storing messages (10) anda device for reproducing messages (13) via a communication channel (12);interrogating, by way of an interface of the device for reproducingmessages (13) operated by an operator (15), said system for storingmessages (10) to retrieve messages stored for the operator from saidsystem for storing messages (10); in response to the operator'sinterrogation, transmitting from said system for storing messages (10) astored message, over said communication channel, to said device forreproducing messages (13); reproducing, at said device for reproducingmessages and in real time for the operator (15), the message transmittedby said system for storing messages (10); identifying whether themessage, in the course of transmission, is one of i) a private messageand ii) an urgent or advertising message; storing informationrepresentative of a duration of a minimum delay for the urgent oradvertising message identified in said identifying step; executing, atsaid system for storing messages, operations on the message in thecourse of the transmission to said device for reproducing messages (13),said device for reproducing messages (13) comprising at least onecontrol device (14) permitting said operator (15) to generate at leastone control signal destined for said system for storing messages (10),said control device (14) allowing the operator, in the course of thetransmission of the message from said system for storing messages, togenerate and transmit to said system for storing messages (10) the atleast one control signal, the at least one control signal controllingsaid system for storing messages (10) to carry out on said message, inthe course of the transmission, a corresponding operation from amongsaid operations, and said corresponding operation including any one ofinterrupting the message, saving the message, and deleting the message,wherein said executing step at said system for storing messages, for theurgent or advertising message identified in said identifying step,commences after expiration of a minimum delay, the minimum delay countedfrom the beginning of the transmission of the identified urgent oradvertising message to said device for reproducing messages (13) suchthat the operator cannot interrupt the transmission of the identifiedurgent or advertising message prior to the expiration of the minimumtime delay, thereby assuring that at least a part of the identifiedurgent or advertising message corresponding to the minimum delay isdelivered to the operator of said device for reproducing messages (13).2. Process for reproducing messages, the process comprising the stepsof: in an automated system for distributing messages comprising at leastone system for storing messages (10) and a device for reproducingmessages (13), the system for storing messages (10) being adapted totransmit stored messages to the device for reproducing messages (13)through a communication channel (12), the device for reproducingmessages (13) permitting the reproduction in real time for an operator(15) of messages transmitted by the system for storing messages (10),the system for storing messages (10) being adapted to carry outoperations on a message in the course of transmission, the device forreproducing messages (13) being adapted to transmit to the system forstoring messages (10) at least one control signal under the control ofsaid operator (15) during the transmission of the message, each of theat least one control signals permitting controlling the system forstoring messages (10) to carry out on the message in the course oftransmission a corresponding operation from among the operations, andthe device for reproducing messages (13) comprising at least one controldevice (14) permitting the operator (15) to generate the at least onecontrol signals destined for the system for storing messages (10),identifying whether the message in the course of transmission from thesystem for storing messages 10 to the device for reproducing messages(13) is one of i) a private message and ii) an urgent or advertisingmessage; storing, in the system for storing messages (10), informationrepresentative of a duration of a minimum delay for the urgent oradvertising message identified in said identifying step; and in thesystem for storing messages (10), disabling the execution of anyoperation from among said operations on an identified urgent oradvertising message identified in said identifying step by said systemfor storing messages (10) for the minimum time period determined by thestored information, where the operation being disabled is initiated bythe at least one control signal sent under the control of said operator(15) during the transmission of the message, the at least one controlsignal for permitting controlling the system for storing messages (10)to carry out on the message in the course of transmission thecorresponding operation from among the operations.
 3. Process forreproducing messages in an automated system for distributing messages,comprising the steps of: communicating via a communication channel of anetwork (12) from a telecommunication terminal (13) to a system forstoring messages (10), said system for storing messages being a messageserver; interrogating said system for storing messages (10) through aninterface (14) of said telecommunication terminal (13) to retrieve amessage stored in said system for storing messages (10) for an operatorof said telecommunications terminal; transmitting, in response to theoperator's interrogation from said telecommunication terminal (13), themessage from said system for storing messages (10) to saidtelecommunication terminal (13) over said communication channel;reproducing, in real time at said telecommunications terminal (13), themessage transmitted by said system for storing messages (10);identifying whether the message, in the course of transmission, is oneof i) a private message and ii) an urgent or advertising message;storing information representative of a duration of a minimum delay forthe urgent or advertising message identified in said identifying step;generating a control signal destined for said system for storingmessages (10) by way of the operator using the interface (14) of saidtelecommunication terminal (13), said control signal for an operation ofinterrupting the message; transmitting, in the course of thetransmission of the message from said system for storing messages (10),the generated control signal from said telecommunication terminal (13)to said system for storing messages (10) via said communication channel;and receiving said control signal at said system for storing messages(10), said control signal controlling said system for storing messages(10) to perform the operation of interrupting the transmission of themessage from said system for storing messages (10) during thetransmission, wherein said system for storing messages (10) executessaid operation of interrupting the transmission of the identified urgentor advertising message after expiration of the minimum time delaycounted from the beginning of the transmission of the identified urgentor advertising message to said telecommunication terminal (13) such thatthe operator cannot interrupt the transmission of the identified urgentor advertising message before the expiration of the minimum time delayassuring that at least a part of the identified urgent or advertisingmessage corresponding to the minimum time delay is delivered to theoperator of said telecommunication terminal (13).
 4. An automated systemfor the broadcasting of messages, the system comprising: a system forstoring messages (10); and a device for reproducing messages (13), saidsystem for storing messages (10) configured to transmit stored messagesto said device for reproducing messages (13) through a communicationchannel (12), said device for reproducing messages (13) configured toreproduce messages in real time to an operator (15), said messagestransmitted by said system for storing messages (10), said system forstoring messages (10) configured to carry out operations on a message inthe course of transmission from said system for storing messages (10) tosaid device for reproducing messages (13), said device for reproducingmessages (13) configured to transmit to said system for storing messages(10) at least one control signal under control of said operator (15)during the transmission of said message, each of said at least onecontrol signal permitting controlling the system for storage of messages(10) to carry out on said message in the course of transmission acorresponding operation from among said operations, and said device forreproducing messages (13) comprising at least one control device (14)permitting said operator (15) to generate said at least one controlsignal, destined for said system for storing messages (10), wherein thesystem for storing messages, in operation, executes the processaccording to claim
 2. 5. Process according to claim 2, in which saidcommunication channel (12) is a radio connection and in which saiddevice for reproducing messages (13) is a radio communication terminal.6. Process according to claim 2, in which said communication channel(12) is a telephone line connection and in which said device forreproducing messages (13) is a conventional telephone station. 7.Process according to claim 2, in which said communication channel (12)is a telematic connection and in which said device for reproducingmessages (13) is a telematic communication terminal.
 8. Processaccording to claim 2, in which said communication channel (12) is aninteractive television connection and in which said device forreproducing messages (13) is an interactive television receiver. 9.Process according to claim 2, in which said communication channel (12)is a computer network and in which said device for reproducing messages(13) is a computer system connected to said computer network. 10.Process according to claim 2, in which the device for storing messages(10), the device for reproducing messages (13) and said communicationchannel (12) are integrated into a single device such as an interactiveterminal.
 11. Process according to claim 2, in which said messagesstored in said system for storing messages (10) and transmitted to saiddevice for reproducing messages (13) comprise at least one sonicportion.
 12. Process according to claim 11, in which said messagesstored in said system for storing messages (10) and transmitted to saiddevice for reproducing messages (13) comprise at least one vocalmessages portion.
 13. Process according to claim 12, in which saidsystem for storing messages (10) is a vocal message server.
 14. Processaccording to claim 2, in which said messages stored in said system forstoring messages (10) and transmitted to said device for reproducingmessages (13) comprise at least one portion composed of a text. 15.Process according to claim 2, in which said messages stored in saidsystem for storage of messages (10) and transmitted to said device forreproducing messages (13) comprise at least one image or an assembly offixed or animated images.
 16. Process according to claim 2, in whichsaid messages stored in said system for storing messages (10) andtransmitted to said device for reproducing messages (13) permit aninteractive dialog with the operator (15).
 17. Process according toclaim 2, in which said operations that can be carried out on the messagein the course of transmission comprise an operation permitting thedeletion of the messages being transmitted and at least one othermessage by a single operation.
 18. Process according to claim 2, inwhich at least one of said control signals controlling said system forstoring messages to carry out at least one of said operations on saidmessage in the course of transmission, is determined in real time bysaid device for reproducing messages (13), and is transmitted in realtime to said system for storing messages (10) by said operator (15) viasaid device for reproducing messages (13).
 19. Process according toclaim 18, in which one of said at least one control signals determinedand transmitted by said device for reproducing messages (13) istransmitted to said storage system for storing messages (10) at any timewithin said minimum delay starting from the beginning of saidtransmission of said message.
 20. Process according to claim 18, inwhich said at least one control signal determined and transmitted to thesystem of storage (10) comprises a signal acknowledging reception of themessage in the course of transmission.
 21. Process according to claim20, in which said storage system for storage (10) ignores operationsother than the acknowledgement of reception of the message in the courseof transmission up to the reception of the acknowledgement of reception.22. Process according to claim 20, in which said system of storage (10)retransmits at least partially the message in the course of transmissionupon reception of an operation other than the acknowledgement ofreception.
 23. Process according to claim 2, in which one of said atleast one control devices (14) present in said device for reproducingmessages (13) to send said at least one control signal to said systemfor storage of messages (10), is a keyboard or a control device (14)comprising at least one key.
 24. Process according to claim 23, in whichone of said at least one control signals permitting carrying out anoperation on a message in the course of transmission is the signalgenerated by the actuation of a key from among said at least one keyspresent on said keyboard or said control device (14) comprising at leastone key.
 25. Process according to claim 2, in which one of said at leastone control devices present in said device for reproducing messages (13)to send said at least one control signal to said system for storingmessages (10), is a microphone.
 26. Process according to claim 25, inwhich one of said at least one control signals permitting carrying outan operation on a message in the course of transmission, is a vocalcommand entered by said operator (15) by means of said microphone andtransmitted to said storage device (10) by said device for broadcastingmessages (13).
 27. Process according to claim 2, in which one of said atleast one control devices present in said device for reproducingmessages (13) to send at least one control signal to said system forstoring messages (10), is a voice recognition device.
 28. Processaccording to claim 27, in which one of said at least one control signalspermitting carrying out an operation on a message in the course oftransmission is a vocal command entered by said operator (15) by meansof said voice recognition device.
 29. Process according to claim 2, inwhich said minimum delay is three seconds.
 30. Process according toclaim 2, in which said messages stored in said system for storingmessages (10) and transmitted to said device for reproducing messages(13), are advertising messages.
 31. Process according to claim 2, inwhich the duration of said minimum delay is reduced to zero for certainmessages.
 32. The process according to claim 2, wherein the duration ofthe minimum delay is less than a total time of the urgent or advertisingmessage.